The present invention relates to the art of handling biological fluids. It finds particular application in conjunction with the collection, treatment, and disposal of fluid wastes in operating rooms, patient care rooms, emergency care units, and other medical facilities and will be described with particular reference thereto.
Heretofore, various techniques have been used for collecting waste body fluids in conjunction with medical procedures. The collection vessels varied from a simple plastic bag to automated, electrically controlled processing equipment.
The receiving receptacle often varied with the nature and volume of the fluids to be collected. Typical fluids have included blood, urine, mucous, and other body discharges. During some surgical procedures, such as joint surgery, a saline solution or other rinse and lubricating fluid was selectively introduced into th e surgical site. The fluid was drawn off from time to time, removing with it surgical scraps, any blood, and other body fluids that may have entered into the surgical site.
Simple bags and pouches could be hung from the surgical table or placed at other convenient locations within the room in which the medical procedure was performed. Flexible tubing typically interconnected the bag with the region of the patient from which the fluid wastes were collected. Such bags or pouches had several drawbacks. First, safe disposal of the fluids was difficult. Such bags or pouches were typically emptied manually, creating the opportunity for direct human contact with potentially infected wastes. Second, difficulties could arise if the volume of drained fluid exceeded the capacity of the bag. Not only would the fluid not drain, but fluid in the bag and the connecting line would be under a positive pressure attributable to the fluid held in the line and resiliency of the bag or pouch. Disconnecting the lines, handling of the pouch, and the like could cause discarded fluids to be reintroduced into the patient or to spurt onto medical personnel, the wound site, or the like.
More elaborate electronically controlled fluid waste removal systems have been utilized, particularly where the fluid waste is removed under suction. Although electronically controlled and of larger capacity, the systems still suffered similar problems. Many required direct manual interaction with medical personnel in order to empty the wastes from the collection reservoir. Others lacked adequate safety features to assure that fluid in the flexible lines would not spurt or be forced back into the patient when the reservoirs become full or during disconnection of the lines. Typically, electronically controlled devices would be dedicated suction or gravity feed devices. In medical procedures in which both gravity and suction drain devices were required, two units would be needed.
Simple collection bags were often discarded as hazardous or potentially hazardous waste. The more complex systems required cleaning and maintenance. Typically, cleaning and maintenance required sufficient human interaction that the human operator was liable to come in contact with a contaminated and potentially infectious surface.
The present invention contemplates a new and improved biological fluid collection, handling, and disposal system which overcomes the above-referenced disadvantages and others.